EngenderHealth Stands with Texas and Condemns SB8

WASHINGTON (September 8, 2021) — EngenderHealth stands with the people of Texas who are affected by the enactment of Texas Senate Bill 8 (SB8). This bill, which unconstitutionally bans abortion beginning at about six weeks of pregnancy and outrageously rewards vigilantism by private citizens to enforce this appalling law, poses an immediate danger to patients, providers, and supporters across the state.

“Enacting SB8 threatens the rights and health of people who choose abortion,” EngenderHealth President & CEO Traci L. Baird said. “Like other restrictions on abortion access, it disproportionately affects people of color, gender minorities, persons with disabilities, young people, and lower-income individuals who lack the time and resources required to travel out of state for their healthcare.”

EngenderHealth recognizes that abortion is healthcare and a human right. We believe that everyone should have the autonomy to decide whether and with whom to have sex, to use a preferred contraceptive method, to access emergency contraception, and to have a safe abortion. These choices—these rights—are being withheld from people in Texas, other US states, and countries where abortion laws restrict people’s access to healthcare.

EngenderHealth applauds the Biden administration for denouncing SB8 and pledging to protect the constitutional right established by Roe v. Wade as well as individuals seeking or providing reproductive health services. We support the administration’s efforts to challenge and overturn the state of Texas’ attack on reproductive health and rights.

We also stand with and honor the local organizations in Texas that continue to provide essential care for their communities, even when their job is made more difficult and dangerous by the enactment of this bill. You can join us in supporting them by donating to abortion funds that will help ensure individuals in Texas have continued access to safe abortion care. In addition, increased access to medication abortion, also known as abortion with pills, provides a vital option for people in Texas, and EngenderHealth is proud to contribute to raising awareness of this critical option. To learn more about medication abortion and how to access care visit the Plan C website.

EngenderHealth works with partners around the world to advance gender equality in and through sexual and reproductive health and rights programs. Discriminatory laws, like SB8, prevent people from leading healthy lives, exercising their rights, and participating as equal members of society, and have no place in the just and equitable world we are striving to help create.

About EngenderHealth 

EngenderHealth is committed to creating transformative, sustainable change by delivering high-quality sexual, reproductive, and maternal health services; expanding access to information and training; and advancing acceptance of sexual and reproductive rights as human rights. To achieve this vision, EngenderHealth collaborates with governments, private-sector partners, international experts, and local organizations and communities around the world to deliver programs that give girls and women freedom to reach their full potentials. www.engenderhealth.org